Valley Pike

[1] Long before the arrival of English colonists, Native Americans of the Delaware and Catawba tribes used this well-watered path as a migratory route and hunting grounds, moving between what is now Georgia and Canada.

As a result of the Treaty of Lancaster, the Iroquois were promised a marked path up the Valley which was laid out in 1745 by James Patton and John Buchanan.

On March 3, 1834, The Valley Turnpike Company was incorporated by an act of the Virginia General Assembly, and the state participated in the public-private venture through the Virginia Board of Public Works with a 40% investment to build 68 miles (109 km) between Winchester and Harrisonburg.

The new combined road, by then known as the "Valley Pike", was significantly improved and tolls were charged for the upkeep of its 93-mile (150 km) length.

A section of the original Valley Pike runs parallel to U.S. Route 11 in Rockbridge County, 1 mile north of Lexington.

U.S. Route 11
U.S. Route 11
A drawing entitled "the escape of Stonewall Jackson's Army down the valley pike at Strausburg [sic], Va." U.S. Library of Congress Collection
Valley Turnpike, 1897